How to Make Honmei Choco
by Onnoff
Summary: In which Aoko forgot about Valentine's Day and Saguru offered a helping hand.
1. How to Make Honmei Choco

**How to Make Honmei Choco**

_by Aoko & Saguru_

* * *

Aoko was just out shopping for groceries when she walked past a startlingly pink display that totally came out of nowhere. She paused, turned back to look at it, and slowly began to **panic**.

She completely forgot about Valentine's Day! Between her dad getting sick and Kaito getting sick right after, Aoko had been running around taking care of everyone. Now she didn't have any time to prepare for Valentine's Day! Sure, she could probably just buy honmei chocolates from the store and not worry about it, but this year is different. Not that last year was much of a Valentine's Day considering that she didn't even get to give her chocolate to Bakaito. But at least she knew what kind of chocolate he likes and knew what to shop for. But this year... she had no idea what to get...

"Looking for something for your Valentine?" a smooth, polished voice asked from behind her. Aoko startled and turned around to find Hakuba-kun standing behind her with a tote bag...? Realizing what he just asked her, Aoko flushed.

"H-Hakuba-kun! What are you doing here?" she stuttered out. It was a legitimate question. She'd never seen him in this area before. Not to mention the fact that Hakuba-kun had his Baaya. Who, she assumed, would be doing these kinds of things for him and the Hakuba family.

"Oh, I just needed to buy some ingredients." Then he stops to look at her and then at the Valentine's chocolate display for a bit, before continuing. "Would you like me to help you pick some chocolates?" he asked kindly.

Despite all the fights and disagreements he would have with Kaito, Hakuba-kun had been nothing but kind to Aoko. Always helping her out or engaging her in small talk, even after Aoko realized that he never had any romantic feelings for her. Maybe it was because they have so many things in common with each other. Both being children of police officers, and both having an interest in stopping KID, but Aoko would like to think that they get along pretty well. Aoko smiled. First, brightly, then less so when she remembered her problem.

"That's alright, Hakuba-kun," she replied, "I didn't bring enough money for this, and even if I did, I wouldn't know what to get anyways." She looked forlornly at the chocolate display in front of her. Hakuba-kun made a noise beside her, the noise she associated with him thinking, or coming up with a plan, or deciding what to say.

"Well, the ingredients I came here to get are actually for the chocolates I'm planning to make... would you like to join me?" Hakuba-kun asked graciously and, huh...?

Aoko turned to look at Hakuba-kun, who had this hopeful look to him. Like he wanted her to say yes.

"Both to shop for ingredients and to make the chocolate, I mean. I planned to buy the ingredients anyways, so I can pay for the bulk of it. And who knows," Hakuba-kun raised his eyebrow while smiling impishly, "maybe we'll find something that's perfect for your Valentine?"

Aoko, still blown by the revelation, decided to instead exclaim.

"Ehhhhhhh? Hakuba-kun, you have a Valentine?" Aoko asked, curious about who could possibly capture the heart of Hakuba-kun, who never seem to pay any attention to things like this or have any care for it. He looked at her, amused, before winking.

"It's a secret."

Ehhhhhhh? What's this? Now Aoko was even more intrigued about who it could possibly be! Well, there was only one way to solve this!

"Ok then, Aoko will come shopping with you," she answered, planning out how she was going to get him to tell her who his Valentine is in her head. Hakuba-kun chuckled.

"Alright, but I'm still not telling you who my chocolate is for," he teased with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

Aoko sometimes forgot how similar Hakuba-kun and Kaito could be when it comes to their ability to tease her. Hakuba-kun might be more subtle, but he's just as mischievous (if not more) as Kaito, if he wants to be.

"Oh, and as for the making of the chocolates, shall we meet up on the 13th? That way, the chocolates will be very fresh." Hakuba-kun suggested.

"Yeah! Let's go with that!" Aoko agreed enthusiastically, looking forward to making chocolates for her Valentine with Hakuba-kun.

* * *

'I wonder where Aoko is...' Kaito thought as he pulled his shoes out from the locker and replaced his slippers back into the compartment.

They don't always walk to school together. They might be close friends, but neither of them were willing to wake up extra early just for that. But more often than not, they'd walk back together, at least until they have to go separate ways. Sometimes they don't, but they would usually let each other know ahead of time if that was the case.

'Did Aoko say she had something to do...? No, no she didn't. _Where __**is**_ _she?_' Kaito wondered as he looked around trying to find his best friend, when in the distance, he saw a blond blob. 'Hakuba...'

Then he recognized who was with Hakuba. It was Aoko! God, did she stay behind because she got distracted by _Hakuba?_

Kaito felt a small twisting sensation in his chest, but ignored it to think about why those two were staying behind together. Or more specifically, what crazy ideas Hakuba was telling Aoko now?

'Whatever,' Kaito decided that that didn't matter. He just wanted to get them away from each other and he wanted to go home.

"Oi, Ahouko! Stop taking so long!" he yelled out, startling Aoko, who looked at him with a surprised expression. 'What's with that look?' Kaito wondered. Then her expression turned guilty.. Huh...

"Ah! Sorry! Aoko forgot to tell Kaito that I'm going back with Hakuba-kun today!"

'What..?'

Aoko was looking at him apologetically, but Kaito was still processing.

"Sorry I made you wait! Aoko totally forgot!" She was still apologizing to him, he should say something back.

"Geez, Ahouko, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Sorry! I made plans with Hakuba-kun a few days ago so it completely slipped my mind!"

'Ah, so this was a planned thing?' Kaito wasn't sure how he felt about any of this.

He'd never known how to feel about Aoko and Hakuba being friends ever since he found out they kept in touch with each other through texting. He had been trying to figure if it was because it was Hakuba, or because it was a guy, or just Aoko getting one more friend when his friend list remains unchanged with only 1 person on that list.

Part of him wanted to ask them what they were going to do together or why they were even doing it together, but he never asked Aoko when she went to hang out with Keiko. Kaito didn't know why he suddenly cared about what Aoko was doing with her other friends. He shouldn't be acting like this. It wasn't his fault that Aoko has other friends to be with and it wasn't fair for him to occupy all of her time.

"Fine, whatever! Don't forget to tell your dad before he starts putting up missing posters of you, Ahouko," he said as he turned to leave.

Behind them he could hear Aoko's panicked "ah!" probably because she forgot to tell her dad about her plans, probably reaching into her bag to call her dad about it now. He could also hear Hakuba's warm chuckle, and he could almost visualize the scene, Hakuba with a fond, amused look on his face as he stood there, waiting for Aoko to finish her call.

Kaito shook his head.

He didn't know where that thought came from, but he has better things to do than to think about that bastard.

...

The walk from school to Hakuba-kun's house didn't take as long as Aoko thought it would.

Since Hakuba-kun came to ask her if she would rather have Baaya drive them to the house, Aoko thought that it might be a bit far away, but it wasn't that far at all. Maybe around the same distance as Kaito's house from school, but in the complete opposite direction. Aoko took a small moment to find humor in the fact that the boys continue to be so different from each other in every way.

Being the great conversationalist that he is, Hakuba-kun kept her engaged the entire way, talking about this and that.

Aoko got to learn a lot more about him. While she thought that they were friends, she didn't realize just how much she didn't know about him.

He would point to different places in as they walk passed, talking about what those places are, how this place has the best ramen, or that place has the best dangos. They also stopped quite frequently on the way back, due to cats and kittens running up to rub themselves against Hakuba-kun, who would stop to crouch down to play with them.

"Sometimes I would stop by on my way back from school to give them some food or to play with them," Hakuba-kun explained.

"That's so cute! They really seem to like you," she said, part of her wondered why Hakuba-kun didn't just take them home, if he liked them this much. But Aoko assumed it had something to do with the sparrowhawk he has as a pet.

"Yes, I think they're starting to remember me now," Hakuba-kun said with a gentle smile on his face as he played with one of the kittens.

Sometimes, Aoko wondered if Kaito would be nicer to Hakuba-kun if he saw this side of him.

Eventually, Hakuba-kun stood up and took the leading position to guide her back to his house. Some of the cats tried to follow them for some distance before giving up when they realized that Hakuba-kun would not be playing with them anymore nor does he have any food for them today.

As they approached Hakuba-kun's house, Aoko couldn't help but stare in awe at how big and grand his house is. Maybe she shouldn't call it a house, it was more like a manor, with western architecture. He guided her through the gates (which he seemed to have unlocked by having his eyes scanned?), and led her up to the house. Which got even more imposing as they approached the entrance.

When they got to the door, it opened up. At first Aoko thought this was another high tech system like the eye scanner, but as Hakuba entered she saw that it was Baaya who received them. Still in awe of how big everything was, it was only after Baaya welcomed Hakuba-kun home that Aoko remembered her manners and greeted Baaya with a bow. Hakuba-kun moved aside so that she could enter the house.

"Pardon the intrusion," Aoko said out loud, not wanting to look bad in front of Hakuba-kun after already forgetting to greet Baaya right away. Baaya smiled and told her enthusiastically that she's welcome to visit anytime, before turning around to walk back into the house.

"Here, Baaya got some new slippers, these should be around your size, Aoko-san." Hakuba-kun said, dropping a pair of slippers by the entrance. Startling Aoko out of her trance of staring after Baaya down the hallway. It seemed that she was going to be very distracted today due to her desire to look around Hakuba-kun's house.

"Ah, thank you, Hakuba-kun," she removed her shoes and pushed them towards the area where all the outside shoes are before putting on the indoor slippers. Hakuba-kun was smiling at her when she looked back at him again.

"Alright, let's head to the kitchen. Please make yourself at home, then again," he paused to turn and smiled sheepishly at her, "it might be a bit hard considering that this house can take a bit of getting used to." He probably meant the size of his house, Aoko thought. Not wanting her friend to feel bad or awkward about the obvious gap between their social status, Aoko replied without hesitation.

"Alright then! I hope you don't regret saying that!" she smiled cheekily at him while nudging him, a bit harder than just a normal nudge, just to remind him of who she was and the fact that she has had to deal with Bakaito on the regular since who knows how long.

When they reached the kitchen, she could see that all the ingredients and equipment were all laid out for them, probably by Baaya. Who was nowhere to be seen. Hakuba-kun walked towards the center island where everything was. The island, with a built-in sink... god this house is _**big**_, she thought. Aoko kind of wished she had a kitchen as nice and spacious as Hakuba-kun's, but then she realized how much cleanup and maintenance it would need and decided that her kitchen at home was enough as it is.

"Shall we begin?" Hakuba-kun said, bringing her attention back to him from what looked to be a blender..? Aoko wondered what they were going to need blender for... or maybe that was for one of Hakuba-kun's recipes.

As she approached Hakuba-kun, he showed her that her ingredients were separated into this specific area, how to use the stove ("please make sure to turn off the stove every time you're finished using it, I've forgotten enough times for Baaya to be displeased"), and the bowls and equipments that she would need for her recipe. It looked like they would be cooking together, but at the same time, also not .

Normally, Aoko would be worried, but with such a large area to work with and how organized Hakuba-kun is, Aoko thought she was going to enjoy cooking with Hakuba-kun very much. While grabbing some of her ingredients, she noticed how many things were on his side of the kitchen and Aoko wondered if Hakuba-kun will actually be able to finish making his chocolates for tomorrow. Then again, it _**is**_ Hakuba-kun. Shaking her head, Aoko set to making her chocolates, seeing as Hakuba-kun has already started on melting some of his.

While Aoko was measuring out her ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, sugar, Hakuba-kun poured something into another pot on the stove. Cherries, she thought as she smelled the sweet scent.

Oh, that's right, Hakuba-kun offered to help her make some cherry jam or syrup or something to mix with some of the chocolate she was making when they were grocery shopping together that day. He also offered some... ah, so that was what that bottle on her side of the table was. Hakuba-kun suggested putting sherry in some of the chocolates when Aoko mentioned that Akako-chan seemed to like more mature flavors. Aoko wasn't sure if putting alcohol in the chocolate really was the best idea, but Hakuba-kun seemed to think it's a good idea. Although, with how experienced he seemed in the kitchen, Aoko was pretty sure that he probably knew what he's doing.

"Cherry?" Hakuba-kun, held up a piece of cherry to her. How long had he been standing next to Aoko?

"Ah! Thank you, Hakuba-kun," Aoko took the cherry from him, it looked like it had been cut to take the pit out, and popped it in her mouth. "Oh! That's delicious!" She exclaimed, surprised at how sweet the cherry was.

"Right?" Hakuba-kun replied, and she can see how that he's also eating a piece of cherry too. "I think we got lucky with all the fruits we got," he continued, smiling as he goes back to where the pots of cherries and chocolate were.

"Yea! Wow, those cherries must have been really sweet!" Aoko said. "Now Aoko wished we didn't plan to give them away to our valentines," she said jokingly.

"Well, I'm sure we'll make more than enough to give away and have some for ourselves," Hakuba-kun said, smiling smugly with a playful glint to his eyes. Cooking with Hakuba-kun was fun, Aoko decided. Not to mention very delicious too, considering all the care he put in selecting his ingredients. Aoko really should meet up to cook with him more often.

"I guess it's a happy early Valentine's day for us then!" Aoko laughed. Hakuba-kun chuckled in response as he checked on his chocolate.

Aoko turned back to her ingredients, all measured out in front of her. With that done, she started melting her cocoa butter, playfully bumping against Hakuba-kun, who was still melting his chocolate. She got another quiet laugh for her trouble. It's a shame that Hakuba-kun was usually so busy. Aoko had only gotten to know more about him in the past few days.

Though this made Aoko curious, she pondered as she went to mix the dry ingredients together in different bowls; less sugar for one that will have the jam, more for one that will have alcohol in it. While the silence between was comfortable, especially since it was accompanied by the sounds of bubbling jam and some cooking equipment moving around. Aoko decided to break the silence. There was just so much that she didn't know about Hakuba-kun, and she had the perfect opportunity right now to get to know him more.

"Ne, Hakuba-kun, you're so comfortable around the kitchen, have you been cooking for a long time?" she asked. Something that she had been wanting to know since Hakuba-kun invited her a few days ago. "I always assumed that your Baaya would be cooking for you." Aoko hoped her comment wasn't offensive, but if she had someone who is around to cook for her all the time she probably wouldn't have bothered to learn to cook either. Well, ok, maybe that was a lie, Aoko liked cooking and she loves food. Helper or no, Aoko probably would have learnt to cook eventually.

"Ah... yes," Hakuba-kun responded slowly, like he wasn't sure of what to say.

Oh, Aoko really hoped she didn't offend him just now.

"You're right to assume that Baaya cooks for me," he said.

Oh, maybe she didn't offend him after all.

"But I've known how to cook for quite a while now," he continued. "I'm not quite sure how long, but I have to say, it's a very useful skill to have when I was living by myself in London."

"Ehhhh, you lived by yourself in London?" Aoko asked, confused by this new information. She didn't know much about locations in England other than London, but she assumed that Hakuba-kun was from there since he said he went to London Bridge School? She turned to look at him, stirring the cocoa butter in her pot gently, waiting for his answer.

"Yes. I actually grew up in the countryside, but I wanted to study in the city. To be closer to everything. So I moved to London to study there," Hakuba-kun explained, "and got an apartment for myself."

The answer shouldn't have surprised her, Aoko had always known that Hakuba-kun is a very independent person, but she couldn't imagine living away from her dad from such a young age. Not because she can't, but Aoko imagined that it must have been very lonely to do so.

"Ahhh, so you had to cook for yourself when you were in London?" Aoko asked, then sighed, "I wish Bakaito would learn to cook for himself. If we don't invite him over to eat with us, I think he would just starve to death." She complained. There was a snort and the sound of muffled laughter. Aoko turned around to see Hakuba-kun, his shoulder moving with every laugh, hand over his mouth in an attempt to stop.

"Somehow, this doesn't surprise me at all about Kuroba-kun," he said. Then, clearing his throat, he looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, shouldn't laugh at his inability to cook for himself, that was rude of me."

He'd been getting better at that recently, even if it was only around her and Keiko-chan. Aoko was now partly sure that this was just Hakuba-kun's kind of humor. Again, funny enough, it was similar to Kaito's. Where you poke fun at the people you're close with.

Except Hakuba-kun has been doing this to everyone, which was really mean and rude. So Aoko told him off. Hakuba-kun looked so surprised that the time that Aoko believed that he genuinely never thought that his comments could be taken that way. These days, he's much more careful about what he says when he's joking around. Well... when he's not around Kaito that is.

Aoko swore she's going to get these two to get along one day. She could just tell that they would end up being best friends.

"It's fine, it's fine!" she said, waving her hand in an almost beckoning gesture, "I started it." Because she did.

"In any case, to answer your question, I actually learned to cook before I started living in London by myself" Hakuba-kun stirred his chocolate with a whisk. "Well I guess that depends on what counts as 'living in London by myself'. I was in boarding school for a time, when I was younger, but that never really felt like living in London." He explained as he continued to stir his melting chocolate. "If you counted those years, then I guess I haven't learnt to cook yet, but if we count from when I had the apartment then I would have already learnt by then."

Hakuba-kun paused to get the milk that was on the counter by his side, meanwhile, Aoko was pouring her melted cocoa butter into the one of the bowls of dry mixtures she has. Then she added another set of cocoa butter to the pot to melt as she stirred the bowl to combine the cocoa powder mixture with the cocoa butter. And then, she'll be able to pour these into the molds for her first batch of chocolate! Pouring the milk into his bowl of melted chocolate, Hakuba-kun continued his story.

"Back in the countryside, it was just my mom, Baaya, and me," he explained, stirring all the while. "But more often than not, it would be mom and I who did the cooking, since Baaya would be busy in another part of the house," he laughed quietly at that.

Aoko's not going to lie, one of the benefits she enjoyed from hanging out with Hakuba-kun was getting to see him laugh more often.

"Cooking isn't really something that requires expertise, and is an essential skill anyways, so mom alway made sure that I was there with her when she's cooking." Hakuba-kun continued, removing the bowl from the pot and replacing it with another bowl, this time with white chocolate. And then started mixing, eh?

When did he mix those eggs? Ahhh, maybe Aoko should ask him how to be so efficient in the kitchen, she didn't even realize he was mixing something else while this was happening. How did she miss the sound of the electric mixer?

Putting that thought aside, Aoko refocused on her current task of pouring the chocolate mixture into the molds. She filled up half of the molds before taking some chili powder to put in the left over chocolate mixture, and filling the rest of the mold with that chili chocolate mixture. Aoko turned to check on the other batch of cocoa butter in the pot, and pour that batch into the other bowl. Turning the stove off, Aoko took the pot and her bowl to the sink, to be set aside as to not get in the way of Hakuba-kun.

"You must really like cooking then," she said as she walked back to put her chocolates into the refrigerator that Hakuba-kun pointed to earlier. "You seem really good at it, Hakuba-kun."

"Ah, I guess you could say that," he said. As Aoko walked back to her chocolates, she noticed a timid smile on his face. "It was one of the only things that I don't mind doing to help Baaya around the house," he chuckled. Then with a raised eyebrow and a wry grin, "I'd rather cook than clean, wouldn't you?"

Aoko giggled as she mixed her chocolate. Maybe his comment would have been condescending to other people, but she was close enough to him to know otherwise. She knew that he's well aware of his privileges and the fact that others don't share his experiences.

"Ah~ Aoko wish Aoko had a choice between cooking and cleaning," she continued the line of conversation. They exchanged a glance with each other before bursting out into a small fit of giggles. She had pointed out many things in Hakuba-kun's life that are so extravagant that it's ridiculous. To the point that it had become a joke to them for him to put on an even more exaggerated version of his princely persona and talk about his luxuries. Which meant she knew what was going to say next.

"But of course, few have much privilege as I, Hakuba Saguru." he turned up his nose, and gestures fancifully.

Aoko continued to giggle at their inside joke.

"After all, no one can quite reach the perfection that is me." Then he paused in the pose of a stuck up prince for a while, before bursting into a hearty laugh.

Hakuba-kun clutched at his stomach as he continued to laugh, Aoko's giggles mixing in with the noise. After a while, they wiped their tears and got back to their task with smiles on their faces.

Aoko busied herself with her chocolates as Hakuba-kun continued to make his chocolate mousse (it looked like he's making two types?) and the cherry jam. They cooked in companionable silence with some small talk here and there.

By the time she's finished mixing this batch, Hakuba-kun had moved the cherry jam to her side so that Aoko could put it in some of her chocolate mold. Again she poured chocolate into half the molds, this time, only up to about half of the depth of each individual mold. Then she scooped out some cherry jam to place in those molds, before pouring chocolate to cover over the top. She wasn't sure how these will turn out, even if Hakuba-kun had poured the jam into a bowl to place in ice water to help cool it down faster. Then, for the rest of the chocolate mix in the bowl, she poured a bit of the sherry that Hakuba-kun brought out for her and mixed it all together again, before pouring it into the rest of the molds.

With that done, Aoko was basically done with cooking. All that's left to do was decorate, but that would have to wait until the chocolate has cooled down. Placing the second batch of chocolate into the fridge, she turned to check on Hakuba-kun.

It looked like in the time she took to pour out the chocolate into the mold, he was already on his way to finishing up his second? third? mousse? Aoko wondered if she should be jealous of whoever was Hakuba-kun's Valentine's, considering that they would be getting all these fancy chocolates. There was more chocolate melting over the pot again, this time it looked like it was dark chocolate again.

Aoko watched as Hakuba-kun mixed a green mixture in his bowl... matcha, maybe? Hmmmm, Aoko wondered if Hakuba-kun would let her try some of the mousses that he had made... maybe later. Hakuba-kun did say that the leftover chocolates can just be their early Valentine's celebration. As Hakuba-kun put the third bowl of mousse away in the fridge (ah, so he _**was**_ making three mousses), Aoko sidled up next to him and nudged his side playfully.

"Ne, Hakuba-kun, are you really not going to tell Aoko who your Valentine's is?" She pouted up at him for added effect. Maybe he would give in and tell her this time? Instead, what she got was a chuckle as Hakuba-kun moved back to the stove to check on his melted chocolate.

"Nope!" He said cheerfully. Then he pointed a device at this chocolate bowl...?

"Eh, what's that?" Aoko asked, wondering what Hakuba-kun is doing.

"Oh this? It's an infrared thermometer." He said, not really explaining what it is. "It's like any other thermometer you use for cooking, except with this one, I just point it at whatever I want to check and press a button." Aoko couldn't tell if she was impressed by the instrument, or if she's questioning the need to have such a sophisticated equipment. Then again, it's not like this was her house. It wasn't really her place to judge especially since Hakuba-kun seemed to find it useful.

"Ohhh, why are you measuring the temperature of your chocolate?" Aoko asked, not really understanding what exactly Hakuba-kun was doing. If the chocolate was melted then it was good to use, right? She went to clean up the bowl of cherry jam to put in a jar. Hakuba-kun seemed to be moving around and mixing ingredients again, Aoko wondered what he's making next.

"Ah, well, I wanted to temper the chocolate," he replied. "Tempering is a method used to make the finished hardened chocolate look shiny. It also makes the chocolate snap when you break it, which is what I want. And since I'm not going to decorate my chocolate like you are, Aoko-san, I thought that I should make the chocolate itself look presentable." Hakuba-kun explained. Huh, that made sense. Aoko didn't remember seeing Hakuba-kun buying decorations for his chocolate, so she guessed he had a point.

"So, for tempering, it's important to know the temperature of the chocolate?" Aoko guessed from the information that Hakuba-kun has given her. He does that sometimes, answer questions indirectly by providing more detailed explanation instead. Assuming that whoever he was talking to will be able to piece together the information he had given them to find the answer themselves. Aoko would be confused by Hakuba-kun if she wasn't used to Kaito being a tsundere and talking in circles all the time.

"Yes, exactly that." Hakuba-kun seemed to be busying himself with mixing flour now, so she guessed he's making... cake? next? Waaa, Hakuba-kun sure was putting a lot of effort into this. Aoko would have never expected this at all before today.

After scooping all the cherry jam into a jar and putting it away in the refrigerator, Aoko move to put the dirty bowl into the sink. She also grabbed some of the utensils that Hakuba-kun wasn't using anymore as well. Might as well start washing up to clear up some space, since all Aoko has to do now is wait for her chocolate to cool down.

"Thank you, Aoko-san. You didn't have to do that," Hakuba-kun said distractedly as he mixed his cake batter in a bowl, huh, he's using coffee in the batter too. Maybe Aoko should ask him for a recipe after this.

"It's ok. Aoko is just waiting for the chocolates to cool down now, so Aoko might as well do some clean up and clear the space for Hakuba-kun" Again, he responded to her in a distracted manner. Aoko figured that she should just focus on cleaning up and let Hakuba-kun focus on his cake and chocolate.

When Aoko was done with the dishes, Hakuba-kun was putting his batter into the oven (when did he preheat it?) and there was a bowl of raspberry next to the molds and a pot on another stove. Hakuba-kun poured white chocolate halfway into the molds, stopped, dropped some raspberry into each of the mold, and then poured the rest of the chocolate over the top. After smoothing it out, he lifted the tray to go put it in the fridge, but as he passed the pot, he poured milk into the pot. When he came back from the fridge, he was holding a large tray full of-sandwiches with him.

"How about a break with some hot chocolate and sandwiches?" he said.

"Oh! Is that what you're making in the pot?" Aoko said, surprised and enthusiastic to try some of the hot chocolate, which was starting to smell very delicious. Hakuba-kun chuckled.

"Yes," he said, while stirring in some other powder looking ingredients into the pot. "You can start eating the-sandwiches if you'd like. I should be done with the hot chocolate soon, Aoko-san."

With that Aoko decided to start digging in, she hadn't realized how hungry she was until Hakuba-kun mentioned food.

The sandwich was _**delicious**_. Aoko was about to start on her second piece when Hakuba-kun came back with hot chocolate and some shortbread. As she raised the cup up for a sip, the smell of chocolate, cinnamon, and something deeper, filled her senses. A sip of the hot chocolate completed the picture. The smooth creaminess of the chocolate, mixed with just a hint of cinnamon and some other spice that Aoko couldn't place, heated just right to let her senses take in the harmony of flavors.

Taking a moment to savor the lingering taste of hot chocolate in her mouth, Aoko exclaimed of how delicious it was to Hakuba-kun, who bashfully accepted the compliment. He could be so weird sometimes. Sometimes, he has a presence that commands people to acknowledge his accomplishments. And other times, times like this, he would get slightly avoidant and accept the compliments while downplaying what he's done. Aoko just couldn't figure out the pattern as to why he does this, and she wasn't sure if she could figure it out anytime soon.

As they ate, Aoko asked Hakuba-kun where he got the chocolate to make the hot chocolate (and the rest of his Valentine's Day gifts), to which he explained to her that he made the chocolate himself? Asking about it led to Hakuba-kun going into his teacher mode, explaining how he roasted the cocoa beans, and crushed the beans in a special machine that grinds them into a smooth liquid, a liquid chocolate. Which he then stored in the fridge until today. Ahhhh, now Aoko really wished she was Hakuba-kun's Valentine's. Those chocolate must be really delicious since he made them from the bean itself.

They talked some more about anything and everything. Aoko, curious to know more about Hakuba-kun, asked a lot of questions. For example, she learnt that Hakuba-kun likes to read manga, not ones from Japan though (not that he doesn't read those too), but the western ones with superheroes like Superman and Batman. Aoko asked Hakuba-kun which one was his favorite, but he simply replied with a smile, saying that it's hard to pick. Which, of course just made Aoko pester him until she got an answer. In the end he chose Batman, "because he's relatable." Aoko was going to have to look this up later to see why Hakuba-kun liked Batman best.

Somewhere around the middle of that discussion, the timer rang, and Hakuba-kun got up to remove the cake from the oven. Of course, Hakuba also asked about some of the things in her life. Aoko talked to him about her mother, and then Keiko-chan's mother and Kaito's mother, and all the things she learnt from them. About her own interests and the idols that she was following at the moment, exposing Hakuba-kun to different music.

"Ah, speaking of music, would you mind if I put something on? Actually, do you want me to help you decorate your chocolates? It's getting late and I don't feel comfortable about you leaving so late." Hakuba-kun said all at once. "Hm, then again, I guess I could ask Baaya to drop you off." Aoko waved him off.

"Can I stay over? Aoko can just call dad to tell him, but it will probably be easier if Aoko stay over." Then realizing the kind of request she's making and how imprudent she sounded, Aoko backtracked. "Ah, that is, if you're ok with that, Hakuba-kun. I wouldn't want to impose." Hakuba-kun just shook his head, smiling.

"Not at all. You're very welcome to stay over. I can ask Baaya to prepare a room for you." Aoko breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes, Aoko was glad that Hakuba-kun grew up overseas. Aoko knows that she often ignores boundaries that are customary in her society, but sometimes she just doesn't think they're necessary. Besides, Aoko trusts Hakuba-kun.

"Oh, and please feel free to put the music on. This is your house after all."

Hakuba-kun smiled and then started fiddling with his phone. Aoko continued to munch on the last of the sweet buttery shortbread when music started playing, startling her. It wasn't the fact that the music started that startled her, but the choice of music. Considering all the things she knew about Hakuba-kun, bubbly pop girl group music was the last thing Aoko expected to hear blasted out on the speakers. Not only that... but Hakuba-kun was actually singing along to the song word for word too! As well as doing the song's dance? maybe? Or maybe Hakuba-kun was just enjoying himself as he moved on to put more things on the stove.

As Hakuba-kun waited for whatever was in the pots he put on to boil, he twirled around and started dancing towards Aoko with a bright smile on his face. Aoko continued to stare at him, wide-eyed. Her jaw might be hanging as well, but Aoko didn't want to think about that. Hakuba-kun was still singing perfectly along with the song, something about a _strawberry_? But Aoko wasn't sure since it wasn't in Japanese. Aoko wondered if Hakuba-kun actually knew what was being said, or if he's listened to this song enough times that he could memorize the sound of the words. She wouldn't be surprised by either option.

"C'mon, dance with me," Hakuba-kun said, holding a hand out for her.

"Eh?" Was her only reaction. Aoko still wasn't quite over the shock of her friend's music taste. Hakuba-kun rolled his eyes.

"You've been stressed for a while. C'mon, let's just dance!" He took her hand and tugged at it gently, inviting and urging her to join him. She went.

Aoko wasn't really dancing, not really, she was just moving to whatever beat the song seemed to be going at while Hakuba-kun does a mix of that and what looks to be actual dance moves, still singing to every line. Hakuba-kun laughed as he danced back to where his cake is, and started to cut it into two halves, while still bouncing slightly to the music. Aoko couldn't hold her curiosity anymore.

"Wha- what is this song, Hakuba-kun? I never knew you liked music like this," she said haltingly, unsure of what even to ask. Hakuba-kun laughed joyously.

"Oh right, this music probably seemed like an unusual choice for me, isn't it?" he said. Aoko nodded, looking at him, waiting for an explanation, a story, anything. She finally got to see a totally new side of her friend and her hunger for this new knowledge was _**insatiable**_. "I could probably blame it on my friend back in England, to be honest." Hakuba-kun continued, "Molly was the one to listen to this type of music and she got me hooked on to some of the bands and songs."

"What language is this?" Aoko asked, curious. Because _Molly_ sounds like an English name, but Aoko knows for a fact that this song is _not_.

"Ah, it's Korean. Molly's half Korean." Hakuba-kun said as he poured the milk from the pot into a bowl of chocolate and sugar. "I was learning Korean at the time so I found these songs quite helpful. Well, from a more enjoyable side of learning." Hakuba-kun knows Korean. Of course he does, it's Hakuba-kun. Aoko wouldn't be surprised if he knows more languages than English, Japanese, and Korean. He probably just didn't think it would be important to say so. In the background, the song ended and switched to the next song that was equally as poppy and girly as the first one. Hakuba-kun is singing along to this song perfectly fine too. He also seemed to be acting out some of the parts of the song.

"Whaaaat, why didn't Hakuba-kun ever say anything?! If Aoko had known that Hakuba-kun likes this kind of music, Aoko would have recommended a bunch of songs for Hakuba-kun!" Aoko pouted.

She could have been sharing music with Hakuba-kun! They could have spent their days talking about new chart toppers and rising idols! But all those time was wasted because she didn't know! Hakuba-kun was now spreading the milk and chocolate mixture onto the cake, still moving to the beat. Aoko can hear under all the music, a faint sound of Hakuba-kun's muffled laughs.

"I guess we'll have to make up for the lost time," Hakuba-kun said breezily. He placed the other half of the cake on to the one with chocolate spread on it. Then began to cover the whole cake with that mixture. Aoko moved to the stove to check on the chocolate that Hakuba-kun left on the stove. Aoko found a spatula to stir the chocolate with. Looking around, she spotted the thermometer that Hakuba-kun was using earlier.

"Hakuba-kun, do I just press the button to check the temperature?" She asked, wanting to help out.

"Ah, yes, I didn't turn it off so you should be able to check the temperature by pressing the button right where the trigger of a gun would be." Hakuba-kun was still focused on the cake, while mumbling along with the song that was playing in the background. "The temperature should be somewhere around 46 to 48 celsius."

Aoko checked the temperature. The device told her that it was 44 celsius, so she set it aside to stir the chocolate some more. After a while, she checked the temperature again, and it was within the range that Hakuba-kun told her, so Aoko removed the bowl from the heat. She sees that there's a bowl of chopped white chocolate nearby, so she placed that over the simmering pot, assuming that Hakuba-kun would want this melted. Then Aoko added chopped dark chocolate to the bowl of melted chocolate, as she saw Hakuba-kun did earlier, and stirred. Next to her, Hakuba-kun has returned with some molds and bowls of the mousses that he made earlier.

"Thank you for your assistance, Aoko-san." Hakuba-kun said gratefully. Aoko shook her head.

"It's no problem, Hakuba-kun!" Hakuba-kun then moved over to take over from her.

"Then could I ask you to transfer the mousses into the piping bags that I set aside?" Hakuba-kun gestured to the bowls and bags where he was a moment ago.

"Sure!" Aoko set to completing that task while Hakuba-kun fussed with the molds and the white chocolate.

By the time Aoko was finished with the last bag, Hakuba-kun was finished pouring the chocolate into the molds. He then took the molds to the fridge, and took out her chocolates.

"We should get to decorating these." Hakuba-kun said as he set the molds down at one of the islands before leaving to get the decorations.

The rest of that evening was spent finishing up the last of their chocolate and packaging them, with some "taste testing" here and there. Hakuba-kun continued to dance to the energetic music playing in the background, and eventually Aoko also attempted to hum with the songs. They laughed and basked in the chance to be silly without having to deal with the consequences. At the end of it all, Hakuba-kun asked Baaya to show her to her room for the night and they said their goodnights to each other before parting ways.

"I hope Akako-san returns your feelings, Aoko-san," Hakuba-kun said as they parted to go to their rooms. Aoko blushed.

"Aoko hope your Valentine's return your feelings too, Hakuba-kun," Hakuba-kun smiled with mirth, before turning to his room.

"The chocolates that I made aren't for the same kind of love that you have for Akako-san, Aoko-san, but thank you."

Aoko sighed as she followed Baaya to her room. Aoko guessed she won't find out who Hakuba-kun's Valentine's is after all.

...

Kaito got to school early today. It was weird that he didn't run into Aoko on the way to school. He wondered if she would be coming later or earlier than him. It's unusual for them to not walk to school together, but it's not like it's never happened before.

He soon got his answer when he opened the class door to see Aoko blushing and stuttering as she gave a box to a very surprised Akako. 'Huh, so that's who she was making chocolates for.' It's not that Kaito knew that Aoko was going to be making chocolates, but she had seemed more stressed than other Valentine's Day. It was good to know that his instinct was still as accurate as ever. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about Akako being the object of Aoko's affection, but he was quite sure that he didn't want to think about it right now.

'But, wait... didn't she go to hang out with Hakuba yesterday...?' Kaito thought. 'Which meant...' He smirked.

"Yo Hakuba, you got some chocolates too?" he said, projecting his voice to announce his presence. Hakuba turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow and an unimpressed expression on his face.

"I don't have any chocolate, Kuroba." Hakuba lied, because Kaito knew what Aoko was doing yesterday, so what else would Hakuba be doing too. But he continued talking, "And if I didn't, I wouldn't be giving them to you."

For half a second, Kaito's chest felt tight, but he shoved that feeling aside, not wanting to explore what it meant.

He was disappointed that Hakuba apparently didn't bring any of the chocolate he made to school, so he did the next best thing, bother Aoko. And so, began the same song and dance between him and Aoko. He was distracted though. Kaito knew for a fact that Hakuba made chocolate with Aoko, but he had no idea who on earth Hakuba would give it to and it was _bothering him_.

In the corner of his eye, Kaito saw Hakuba turning back to his notes, smiling to himself.

* * *

Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

I have 3 more omakes for this fic, so keep an eye out! I'm still editing them!

(im decently active on Onnoffwrites on twitter if y'all wanna see updates)


	2. Omake 1

Find out who the cake Saguru made was for.

* * *

The benefit of having insomnia, was that you end up having more hours in the day to do things, compared to other people.

It was not uncommon for Saguru's day to start before the sky wakes. While he doesn't enjoy having to suffer from chronic insomnia, Saguru was glad to reap its benefits on days like these.

Closing his eyes, Saguru listened to the sound of his footsteps against the gravel, loud against the the quiet of the slumbering world. He breathed deeply, enjoying the sensation of a slight breeze against his face, ruffling his hair. While the snow seemed to have stopped since January, it was still winter, and there was still a bite to the wind that Saguru always appreciated.

He smiled.

Opening his eyes, Saguru tilted his head up to look at the dark sky above him. Having grown up in the countryside, he couldn't help but feel a slight pang of disappointment when he could only find a few stars in the sky. But night was night, and it has been Saguru's friend and constant companion for a long time. Something familiar that he could always rely on.

He refocused his sight to look ahead, and continued on his way to his destination: the police station.

Of course it hadn't escape Saguru's notice that while he was cooking and entertaining Aoko-san, his father never returned home. He wished he could say that this was an uncommon occurrence, but it was his father's workload that led Saguru on to the path of becoming a detective in the first place.

He sighed.

He really hoped that it was simply a case of mismanagement and his father was staying over to clean up the mess, not an increase in work or a particularly difficult case. Of course, if it was just the matter of case work, Saguru could probably assist his father in closing the case. However, his father had been more resistant to the idea of letting him help recently. Saguru knows that it was because his father didn't want him to spend all his time working and doing detective work. But really, he had more than enough time to spare some hours with his old man and help him solve whichever case had stumped the officers at the station.

Stepping into the station, Saguru adjusted his grip on the boxes he had with him. He bowed slightly to the officer manning the front, saying a quiet greeting to her. Her eye sparkled brightly as she smiled and greeted him.

"Here to see the Superintenden- General, Hakuba-kun?"

"Yes, Inoue-san." Saguru didn't know her that well, but she had always been friendly whenever they interacted. He should probably thank the officers that had known him since the time before he moved to England. They were probably the ones to tell the new faces that he has a habit of visiting his father. Especially when it's very late at night or very early in the morning. That, or they were all used to Aoko-san visiting Inspector Nakamori regularly. "Shall I assume that he's still in his office?"

"Oh you know it!" She laughed quietly.

"Thank you, Inoue-san. Have a good day." He said as he moved further into the building.

"You have a good Valentine's Day too, Hakuba-kun!" She giggled. Probably because she remembered the mountain of chocolate he received last year and how he turned most of them into snacks and desserts for the station.

As he made his way through the bullpen, he greeted some of the officers still at the station who were awake enough to notice him. Some of them were there for the night shift, and some of them, not of the night shift, were passed out at their desks. Saguru sighed. He really hoped his father wasn't one of them.

Saguru paused in front of his father's office, the door was closed. That could be good or bad. He knocked on the door before twisted the knob and opening it slightly to peek in. Ah, so he's still here and still awake.

"_Daddy? Are you busy?_" Saguru asked. Not that his father would be one to turn him away, he never does, even when he's truly busy. But it didn't hurt to ask, and Saguru wanted to make sure that this interruption didn't result in his father staying here even longer.

His father startled at the sound of his voice before looking up to see him there.

"_Ah! Saguru, come in!_"

Definitely busy, Saguru thought to himself, seeing as his father avoided answering the question. He went in anyways. They both missed each other, and Saguru was just following their usual routine. He smiled at his father.

"_I've got something for you_," he lifted the box slightly so his father sees what he was talking about. His father looked at the box before letting out his belly laugh. Saguru smiled wider.

He knows people at the station wondered how they could ever be father and son, and not just because of his appearance, but also due to their vastly different disposition. He knows they wondered how they could even get along. But it was exactly due to their contrasting disposition and their shared passion for justice that they got along so well.

"_You know you don't have to bring me food everytime I stay over at the station, right?_" His father teased. Saguru chuckled quietly, placing the bigger box on the space that his father just cleared up. He put the other palm sized-box to the side carefully, as to not disturb the blue ribbon that he had tied around it.

"_I know, I know. But it is Valentine's day, and Kaa-san wanted to give you something._" Saguru bit his lip to keep himself from laughing too loudly at the surprised and pleased look on his father's face. He then turned to look at this gift, eyes wide with wonder, hands reaching out tentatively.

"_Really? I mean, of course really._"

Saguru knew it was a good idea to help Kaa-san with Valentine's this year. His father had always been a good natured man, always with a smile on his face and very easily pleased. But that didn't mean that efforts in making him happy meant any less to them. They both felt good putting a smile on his face.

"_Oh Irene..._" His father opened the box and, "_oh... Saguru, you shouldn't have._" he said in quiet awe as he looked at the chocolate cake in the box, surrounded by pieces of chocolates.

"_I __**wanted**_ _to,_" he told his father. Saguru really couldn't stop smiling right now.

Maybe it was silly, but he's always filled with joy whenever he had the chance to make his parents happy.

It's a warmth that fills up his chest and spread out to the rest of his body, all the way to his finger tips. A warmth better than any that a fireplace or a heater could provide. The warmth of knowing that you are loved and seeing the happiness on his parents face when they can see that love returned.

He put an elbow on his father's desk and pressed his chin on the palm of his hand, leaning forward slightly.

"_Well? Aren't you going to have a piece?_" He urged his father. Eager to see how he likes the cake that Saguru had made for him. "_I __**do **__have to report back to Kaa-san if you liked it or not,_" he teased his father.

His father laughed as he stood up to grab some plates, knives and forks, popping one of the chocolates into his mouth as he moved.

"This is delicious!"

Saguru laughed. It wasn't often that his father would slip back to Japanese when it was just the two of them hanging out, but it does happen on occasions when he's caught of guard.

Saguru would be lying if he didn't say that he liked those moments.

Of course, it might seem odd to outsiders. That they chose to converse in English rather than Japanese. Even odder so, when they find out that it's the same with Kaa-san. Saguru's excuse was that he grew up doing this, and this was simply what he's used to doing. His parents' excuse? They wanted to maintain their language skills in the other language, and decided that they were going to do so through him.

"_I'm glad you like the chocolate_." Saguru said as his father settled back down with the utensils. "_Those were my gifts._"

"_They're really good, Saguru!_" His father began lifting a piece of cake on to one of the plates, before pushing it towards Saguru.

"_Daddy, it's __**your **__chocolate. I'm not going to eat your chocolate._" He tried to slide the plate back towards his father. Tried, because his father's hand was still on the other side of the plate, holding it in place.

"_Pssshaw,_" his father rolled his eyes. "_It's my chocolate. I can do what I want with it. And if I want to give it to you, then I'm going to give it to you._" He said, using his other hand to place a fork on the plate.

"_Daddy, it's 3 in the morning._"

"_That's your fault. You chose to come visit me at 3 in the morning. Now have a piece of cake._"

Saguru laughed and accepted the piece that his father has been pushing towards him.

His father took the other piece out of the box and Saguru dug into his piece. He closed his eyes as he savored the taste and texture of the cake.

He really should thank Kaa-san for giving him the recipe, even if it was meant to be a Valentine's Day gift for his father.

The cake had the perfect balance of richness, fluffiness, and moistness. The addition of the coffee into the batter really helped to intensify the chocolate flavors within the cake as well as adding its own flavor and aroma. Saguru was also grateful that Kaa-san chose the ganache over a buttercream frosting. He preferred the richness of the ganache over the fluffy, creaminess of a buttercream frosting.

"_This is so __**good,**_" his father said around his mouthful of cake.

Saguru laughed at his father's antics.

"_Oh wait! Let's take a picture for Kaa-san,_" he suggested, taking out his phone.

His father hummed in agreement as they both posed for the picture. As he composed a caption to accompany the photo, his father went back to eating the cake. Sending the picture to Kaa-san, he watched as his father ate his piece, pausing at every bite to savor the flavors.

Saguru was pleased.

He's glad that his father liked the cake, that he could create the cake as his mother envisioned it. He smiled as he continued to eat his piece of cake, chuckling as his father made a joke about having to go on a diet again.

Saguru knew that the warmth currently filling up every part of his body had nothing to do with the coat he's wearing.

* * *

shout out to papa Hakuba, you showed up in canon exactly once and i will never forget you sir, thank you for using nepotism to bring your son across the world into Kaito's life

(2 more omakes to go, still editing those, keep an eye out for updates! as usual, i yell in my twitter sometimes, mostly about my writing process on Onnoffwrites)


	3. Omake 2

"There was a box in Shinichi's desk."

* * *

There was a box in Shinichi's desk.

Ran didn't notice it until lunch period was ending and she was about to sit back at her seat.

It wasn't very noticable, sitting inside the compartment under the desktop.

Ran looked around the room, Sonoko was already back in her seat, looking at her questioningly. But there wasn't anyone paying attention to Shinichi's desk.

'I wonder if someone put it in the wrong desk...' Ran wondered.

It wouldn't surprise her if it _**was**_ for Shinichi. But she also knew that the girls at their school assumed that she would be the one to give him chocolates. And they would be correct to assume so, if Shinichi was here.

Ran had contemplated making chocolates for Shinichi, and even joined Sonoko in making chocolates (which she planned to later give to Kyogoku-san). However, in the end, Ran wasn't sure what she should do with the chocolate that she had made. Shinichi wasn't here anyways. And he doesn't even like sweet things.

In the end, she just left it in the fridge.

"Ran? Why are you just standing there?" Sonoko's voice startled Ran out of her musing. She must have paused long enough for it to look unusual to Sonoko. She turned to her best friend with a wry smile.

"It's nothing, Sonoko." Then an idea hit her. "Actually, Sonoko, did you notice the box in Shinichi's desk?" Ran asked her friend in a faux whisper voice, not really wanting to draw other people's attention to the box.

She's pretty sure the other girls will start filling up Shinichi's desk too if they saw that she didn't have any problems with the box currently in his desk right now. And Ran really didn't want all those chocolate to go to waste.

"Hm?" Sonoko tilted her head, and then moved towards Ran to look at Shinichi's desk. "A box?"

Ran nodded. She knew the exact moment that Sonoko spotted it through the change in her friend's facial expression.

"Ehhhhh? Did someone decide to give Shinichi-kun chocolate after all?" Sonoko said quietly next to her. Ran shrugged. It's not like she knew who put the box there, or if it was even Valentine's related.

"It's just a shame that the chocolate will go to waste, though." Ran turned to Sonoko with a frown. "After all, Shinichi isn't back from his case yet."

Ran wondered what she should do with it. It's probably not safe to just leave it there to go bad. But it also feels wrong to just throw the chocolate away when it was supposed to be a gift to Shinichi.

"Do you think someone put it in the wrong desk?" She asked Sonoko.

"Hmmm, nah. There's no way!" Sonoko answered with an incredulous look on her face.

Ran understood the sentiment to be honest, after all Shinichi was quite popular and famous in their school.

"If you don't want it to go to waste, you should just take it back with you then." Sonoko suggested, disrupting her distracted musing again.

Wait...

"What? I can't just do that! Sonoko!" She protested.

"Why not? If anyone deserves to eat Shinichi-kun's chocolate, it would be you! You might as well take it if you think it will go to waste."

"But..." Ran looked back at the box.

"If you don't take it with you, we'll just end up throwing it away later anyways." Sonoko pointed out the very thing Ran thought of just seconds ago.

"You really think I should?" Ran looked back at Sonoko, unsure of all this.

"Of course! If he asks about it, which we all know he won't, just say you took it as payment for having to deal with his mess."

"Mou, Sonoko!"

The belt rang. They were both startled out of their conversation and moved to sit at their seat before the teacher got back. It seemed that Ran will be taking the box home with her after all. She couldn't help but feel bad for the poor girl wanting to give this to Shinichi.

* * *

"I'm home!" Shinichi called out into the Mouri Detective Agency as he entered.

"Welcome home!" He heard Ran calling out from the kitchen. From the noises coming out from the kitchen, he could guess that Ran had already begun preparations for making dinner.

He had come back to the Agency later than usual due to being guilt tripped by Haibara into hanging out with the kids after school. Honestly, he's pretty sure Haibara just gets a kick out of making him feel bad about things. It's not like he's been avoiding the kids. They literally see each other everyday at school. Not that mentioning this to Haibara would help his case.

He headed to the kitchen.

Ran was moving around the kitchen, cooking, as he assumed correctly. He dragged himself up into the chair, when he noticed a box on the table.

"Eh, what's this, Ran-neechan?" He leaned closer to take a closer look at the box.

"Ah, that," Ran turned to look at what he was talking about before focusing back on her cooking. "I found it in Shinichi's desk today. I think someone wanted to give him Valentine's chocolate?"

Oh right, Valentine's day, the reason why his backpack was stuffed with little notes and letters from who knows what. The reason why he didn't want to stick around at school in the first place. Sure, he's gotten used to hanging out with the kids now, but getting love notes from some of the children in his class still creeps him out a little.

After all, he _**is **_ten years older than all these kids.

He also wasn't expecting chocolates from his high school classmates considering the fact that he's been gone for almost a full year now.

"Hmmm, what are you doing to do with it, Ran-neechan?" He asked with the curious kiddy voice that he usually used to endear adults, to get answers out of them.

He might not have been expecting to get chocolates, but he still wanted them. It was his gift, after all.

"I'm not sure actually," Ran answered. Deciding that he didn't care, Shinichi reached out for the box, and pulled the ribbon off. "I was thinking maybe I'll give it to dad? Or maybe just keep it for myself, like Sonoko said I should."

Shinichi frowned and took the chocolate with what looked like a garnish of lemon skin and took a bite.

"Mmm! Delicious!" He exclaimed in surprise, startling Ran.

The sharp tang of the lemon and the smooth creaminess of the white chocolate shell still lingered in his mouth. It was almost more sour than sweet, but the sourness, the creaminess and the sweetness all balances each other out. He popped the rest of the chocolate into his mouth before turning to Ran, mouth full of delicious lemony chocolate goodness.

"Ran-neechan! Can I have the chocolates?" He said around his mouthful of chocolate, forcing his eyes wide. Hoping the kid-wide-begging-eyes will take effect on Ran.

"Oh," Ran was looking at him with a surprised expression, before it morphed into an indulgent smile, "oh why not, go ahead Conan-kun."

He smiled before grabbing the box of chocolate, covering it with the lid again, and hoping down to go to his room.

"But don't eat them too quickly, okay?" Ran called out after him.

"Okay!"

* * *

In the privacy of his room, Shinichi allowed himself to savor the chocolates.

The coffee one was just as delicious in the bittersweetness of it. He could tell the coffee used was a good, dark roast, from the lack of sour aftertaste that's usually present with beans with a lighter roast. Another piece surprised him with matcha flavor, encased in the same dark chocolate shell as the coffee one.

It surprised him that none of these chocolates were too sweet for his liking. The flavors and texture all balanced each other out. They really were good chocolates. Well, they're probably truffles, considering that all of them have mousse fillings. The mousses themselves were all very delicious as well.

Shinichi looked back at the box lying next to him.

It was a plain brown rectangular box, no patterns or note stuck to it. Just a bright cobalt blue ribbon tied into a bow before he pulled the ribbon off.

Shinichi wondered who the chocolate was from. While most guys don't really like sweets, lemon and coffee were quite specific flavors for it to just be a coincidence, surely...

* * *

a gift for my little man, if gosho won't let him rest, then the least i could do was give him some chocolate. #freeshincihifromconan2020


	4. Omake 3

Find out who's getting the other chocolates that Saguru made.

* * *

Sonoko yawned as she waited by the train station exit.

God, the things she does for her friends. If there was an award for these things, she would have won all of them, a thousand times over.

She sighed.

Oh well, at least she could rely on Saguru to be on time, she thought as she glanced at her watch. Which, coincidentally, was one of the ones that Saguru got her as a gift. One more minute to go. As she waited, Sonoko thought of what she could ask from Saguru as compensation for this.

"Ah, Sonoko! Good morning!" She heard his voice approach her from behind. She turned to see Saguru walking up the stairs, smiling sheepishly at her.

Sonoko sighed internally, realizing that she forgot about Saguru's sleeping problem. That boy certainly didn't look like he just got up or is having problems with being up this early. Of course, that didn't mean that Sonoko wanted to be dragged into whatever sleepless troubles Saguru has every time.

She squinted up at him as he reached her.

"Good morning to you too," she said begrudgingly, "but I can see that you're having a better morning that I'm having."

Saguru chuckled at her response.

She smiled slightly at that.

Even if she's annoyed at him for making her wake up so early, that didn't mean she doesn't enjoy the time she got to spend with him. Especially now that they both have more obligations to attend to.

However, he still made her get up way too early today, and she'd really like to get this over with as soon as possible, whatever this is.

"So? What is it that you want me to do?" she asked him, prompting him to reach into his bag to pull out... a box?

"Yeah," he said, "sorry about this, but could you put this in Kudo-kun's desk for me?" And handed the box to her.

Sonoko looked at the box.

Then looked up at Saguru.

Then back down at the box again.

It didn't really look like anything special, almost plain looking, in fact. At least it would be, if it wasn't for the nice cobalt blue ribbon tied around it into a nice bow. Other than that, it was just a brown palm-sized rectangular box with cream accent on the edges.

Sonoko looked at Saguru again.

He was now looking at her with a raised eyebrow, now. She slowly let the grin grow on her face, as she moved in closer and leaned towards Saguru, wagging her eyebrow.

"Oh ho? Is this a confession, Sa-chan?" She teased him.

To which he responded immediately with a sharp bark of laughter. He tried to cough to cover up the laugh, which was pointless really. She knew him well enough to know when he's laughing even when it's not showing. He was still chuckling slightly when he finally spoke again.

"No, no, it's nothing like that," he paused to chuckle again. "God, Sonoko, I've never even met him."

That just puzzled her even more.

"What? Then why do you want me to put the chocolates in his desk? I don't think he's even gonna be at school today." She told Saguru.

Because while she didn't know exactly what it was her friend was trying to achieve, she could at least tell him why this plan was already failing before it began.

He gave her that infuriating smile of his.

That one that he always has when he knows something she doesn't. The one that drives her nuts. Like, really, what even is up with that cryptic smile?

"I just had a feeling that he would need this, that's all." He said, still smiling cryptically.

She squinted her eyes at him.

"Please? I just had a hunch that he might need this, that's all. Honest." he pleaded.

She squinted at him.

"Besides, even if he's not here- well it's more like, _**because**_ he's not here, that meant the chocolate will be going to someone _**else**_, right?" Saguru spoke in the tone he usually used when he wanted her to figure things out herself.

Sonoko found herself nodding along with his logic.

"I'm sure _**that**_ person would be just as comforted to receive some chocolates today too," he said, still being cryptic.

Sonoko felt like she could feel herself reaching a conclusion, reaching the same conclusion as Saguru, but that wasn't going to stop her from frowning at him.

"Please?" His eyes begging, imploring her to help him.

Ugh, she forgot just how potent Saguru's puppy-eyes were.

"Ok, fine!" She snatched the box from his grasp. "I'll do it! But you better give me chocolates on White Day for doing this for you!"

Saguru smiled brightly at her, with a huff of laughter.

"Of course, Sonoko," he said earnestly. "Thank you so much for doing this for me."

She sighed.

Then he smiled again.

"Why wait for White Day though," he brought something out of his bag again, "when you can have some today too?" He said, holding a small squarish box towards her.

She tried not to make her excitement not so obvious, but she's pretty sure she failed. She's never been very good at being subtle and subdued.

Loudness was a part of her.

Taking the box, she waved him off in a casual manner. Or at least, she hoped it looked that way.

"This would have gone much faster if you'd just give me that first, but it's fine, don't worry about it," she said as she started to head to her school, then turning a bit to look back at Saguru, "I'll see you later?"

Saguru smiled.

"Yes, I'll see you later," he said as he slowly started to back towards the stairs going down to the train station again. "Thank you so much for this, Sonoko."

Rolling her eyes, she waved at him without looking back.

God, she hoped no one will be at school yet when she gets there. She really didn't want anyone to see her put the box in Shinichi-kun's desk. Sonoko looked at the box again.

The blue ribbon shined innocently at her.

Shrugging, she put the box into her bag and opened her own box to pop a chocolate in her mouth. Hmm~ yummyyy~ At least she got chocolates for her trouble.

Although...

Sonoko wondered why Saguru decided to make chocolates for someone he's never met...

* * *

RICH KIDS CLUB! RICH KIDS CLUB! RICH KIDS CLUB!

(i will fight and die on the hill for this hc, saguru and sonoko are bffs, they're rich, they're fashionable, and i will fight u if u disagree)

and that's all of that, i hope y'all liked it!


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